Meet Me At 3
by Desparate Dreamer
Summary: Jaune and Ruby have had boring, hard weeks in preparation for the coming dance, and they're teams have been swamped with work as well. Left with a very small amount of free time, they decide to make the most of it by hanging out in the student lounge every week. (Pre-Vol2 dance; Currently a oneshot, but there are ideas floating around in my brain. May write more if I have the time)
**AN: So, I finally got some free time to write. Yay!**

 **This had been on my backlog for a while, and it only felt right to finish it up and put it out with Volume 3 finally finished.**

 **It doesn't have anything to do with the ending directly, or anything you'd expect me to be talking about (what with all the drama over the ending, both IRL and in the show). I'm avoiding that topic online, to be honest. Too many people with strong opinions.**

 **But I will say this:**

 **Just know that I liked it, and I support the change in direction. That's the extent of my feelings on the matter.**

 **No, I wanted to post this because I'm looking forward to seeing Jaune and Ruby's friendship develop more. (And Lancaster is my guilty ship). So if you aren't a fan of that beware that I'm alluding to it pretty heavily here.**

 **This is a Oneshot, but it could be turned into multiple chapters if there's a good enough response and I find the time to do more chapters.**

 **Well, enjoy.**

* * *

 _Tick Tock_

 _Tick Tock_

 _Tick Tock_

It was Friday.

 _Tick Tock_

 _Tick Tock_

More specifically, it was 3pm on a Friday afternoon.

 _Tick_

 **THUNK!**

 _Tock_

 **THUD!**

And Jaune Arc couldn't be happier that the day was over.

"Ah... finally." Slamming the door wasn't a part of Jaune's usual attitude, but it was a satisfying thing to do after a long week of training.

Jaune had been at Beacon for a little over six months now, and the stress of being a Team Leader of Beacon Academy was finally starting to get to him.

He had the support of all his friends, not to mention a great team like Juniper, but the mounting schoolwork, class expectations, and even the recent training with Pyrrha were all starting to crack his determined spirit.

Right now he just wanted to rest.

 **Poof~**

A sudden shift in the first-year dorm's lounge couch cushion made Jaune acutely aware that he had been on auto-pilot since he had walked in. He couldn't even remember when he sat down in the first place, or how he ended up sprawled across the couch's left side.

But, he did know who the owner of such a careless, dainty weight was.

"Heya, Ruby." He looked to his right, at a mass of red fabric huddled in the other corner of the couch.

Ruby took one moment to glimpse through her cloak at him, and that one moment let him know that she was just as, if not more, haggard than he was. Her normal bed head looked as if it had been hit with a side of helmet hair and sweaty jog ruffle. Her clothes didn't look much better, either. Her shirt and stockings were loose and wrinkled, her combat skirt was creased in several awkward locations, and the cloak she loved so much was pulled over her entire body as if it was a blanket. Even her precious scythe was nowhere to be seen, which was the second-to-last thing Jaune ever thought he would see, just behind Weiss' smile.

She truly looked battle-worn, in the battle-less sense.

"Hi, Jaune." Her voice was still chipper, but it had lost some of its energy in the last week or so. She opened her mouth to continue the conversation, but sighed and buried her head back into the side of the couch instead.

Jaune knew exactly how she felt.

"Long day?" Jaune received a muffled, "Mmhmm", as an affirmative. "Yeah, me too. Being a leader is hard, and Goodwitch does _not_ make it any easier." Although, if he was fair, he did remember every lesson Goodwitch had taught just so he wouldn't have to go through it again. Say what you will about her, the lessons do work. He never could've imagined progressing so far before he came to Beacon, and he definitely wouldn't be as good as he was without Goodwitch.

Apparently, torture was the best teacher.

Ruby ruffled her cloak in what he could only assume to be a vague gesture of empathy.

Or maybe she was just getting more comfortable.

Eh, he didn't have the energy to care anyway.

He draped one arm over his eyes to block out the harsh artificial light of the ceiling fan, spinning lazily above the coffee table Jaune had decided to rest his feet on.

The day had been long, with all of his morning classes focusing on practical application of Aura, Dust, and Physical Skill. The trifecta every Beacon student feared they would get if their grades dropped too low for the staff's liking.

Since his skills were nonexistent less than a year ago, that punishment had become the norm for Jaune.

Although, he wondered why Ruby was so tired. She didn't have any of his classes, so she couldn't have the feared trifecta. He also pondered why her partner wasn't next to her, nagging about doing some sort of school work or looking like a proper leader. In fact, he slowly realized that neither Yang nor Blake were around either, even though they always were before the semester change.

"Hey, Ruby?" A questioning grunt was his answer, along with the ruffling of her cloak as she struggled to find a comfortable position on the couch. "Where's your team?"

Ruby paused her movement to register the question, lifting her head above her cloak and finally looking him in the eye, seemingly more awake than before.

"Oh, right. Weiss still has her tutoring job with Goodwitch, and Blake and Yang are stuck in Port's Grimm Anatomy lecture for the rest of the year." She paused, rubbing some of the drowsiness out of her eyes. " _Aaaannd_ , they all won't be free until Suppertime. Which sucks because Friday is the only day I have only morning classes, and I wanted to be able to hang out with someone." Ruby's tired expression morphed into a pout that never ceased to strike a cord within Jaune's overflowing heart.

He was kinda offended she forgot she was talking to him, actually.

"Ruby, I'm right here aren't I?" It took her a second, but her eyes suddenly lit up and all of her energy seemingly returned just so she could plow straight into his unprepared chest, knocking the wind from him and momentarily stunning him.

Even so, he clutched her in a tight embrace until she was finished.

Having seven sisters trained him for moments like that.

Once she realized what she was doing, her eyes burst open and she jumped back with an expression like she just told him she read his diary without permission.

 _Which she didn't have._

...he mentally noted.

"Oh, u-um, sorry. I guess I got a little _too_ excited, hehe..." Even after all the time she spent with him; eating lunch together, training together, even swapping hoodie for cloak during a bet, she was still very awkward with direct, physical interaction. Things like hugs _didn't_ happen often with Ruby, at least not hugs with anyone other than Team RWBY.

Which, if he thought about it, made everything that just happened a pretty big milestone in their friendship.

...

Eh, he still didn't have the energy to bring it up.

But, abandoning that line of thought, Jaune had mostly gotten used to Ruby. He was totally fine with casual acts of friendship like hugs and the like.

Although, if she tried to kiss him...

Well, let's just say he'd probably lose a little more than his composure.

But, that'd never happen to him; not to someone so obviously infer-

 _Ugh, being self-depreciating is too draining... Forget it._

"It's fine, Ruby. I don't mind hugs." He smiled to ease her, and she scratched at a piece of her unruly hair in embarrassment. He started to get confused when his smile didn't ease her, but seemed to make her more nervous.

She looked down and kicked at the ground, obviously debating something in her mind. When Jaune was about to ask her about it, she suddenly spoke.

"So... would it be okay if.. I gave you more?" The expression on her face when she looked up was so coy, Jaune almost thought it was planned.

It actually made him wonder if Ruby was just really, really shy, or a secret master of the cute.

"O-of course not." Even after all his attempts to practice talking to people like a normal person, a small stutter barely escaped when he saw the uncertainty in her eyes. Which made him immensely glad when her face lit up brighter than when he first helped her from her crater on their first day, and she rushed back over to hug him again.

 _Thank Oum..._

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou _thankyou_." Jaune laughed and hugged back, pulling her into his chest and realizing just how much hugging her reminded him of his sisters. It gave him a little energy boost, just enough for him to get excited too.

"Yeah, yeah. I got it, Rubes." Jaune pulled away, placing her at arms length with a wide smile. "Now, what do you say we go marathon the new X-ray and Vav season!?"

Jaune's excitement easily carried over to Ruby's childish nature, and an even wider smile graced her face. She furiously fist pumped into the air and yelled, "Yeah! I love the scene when Mogar finally teams up with X-ray and Vav to defeat The Mad King!"

Jaune quickly put his hand over Ruby's mouth to silence her.

"Spoilers!" A horrified gasp tickled his palm just before Ruby began furiously apologizing, but Jaune didn't actually care. He was just glad to have such a cool friend to hang out with on a boring Friday afternoon.

...

Plus, he had already watched the new season, like, fifteen times.

* * *

 _"...X-ray and Vav..."_

The final note of the X-ray and Vav theme played in the background as Jaune and Ruby found themselves playing an intense game of Go Fish, leaving the lounge's television forgotten in the background.

Jaune, with all of his books laid out in all their glory in front of his lap, smiled deviously at Ruby.

Even as he absolutely destroyed her in such as simple party game, he loved seeing her "thinking face", with her tongue poking slightly from the corner of her mouth and an intense gaze on the cards in front of her.

Her eyes narrowed for her last-ditch effort to save some dignity.

"D'ya have any threes?" Jaune's smile widened.

"Fish." Ruby's frustrated groan was music to his ears.

She threw her cards down and ruffled her hair in agony as she admitted defeat to the great Jaune Arc once again.

"I lose! How can you be so good at this, Jaune? Are you, like, some kinda card master?!" He laughed at her question.

"No, I just played it a lot with my sisters." Ruby rocked back and forth, holding her feet in a cross-legged fashion with a curious glint in her eye.

"You mean when you weren't training to be a Huntsman?" She leaned in, awaiting the answer to her first question directly relating to his past.

"Heh, yeah..."

 _If you count reading comic books and failing Signal's entrance exam training..._

Jaune broke eye-contact, looking off to the side for a way to change the subject.

...

The silence quickly became awkward, and Jaune still struggled to find an appropriate segue.

"Is.. family not a good topic for you?" Jaune brought his attention back to Ruby, confused at her new question. The answer quickly dawned on him, and he internally thanked her for misunderstanding.

"No, it's just..." He paused, realizing that he didn't have a good answer to that either. "I haven't seen them in a long time, and I.. didn't exactly leave on good terms with my father..." The sentence died off quickly, making Jaune wonder how they had come to such a personal topic.

"I understand." Ruby's admittance gained his attention yet again. Her gaze seemed far off, like she was remembering something intently. "There was a time when my dad wasn't a very good dad, and Yang and Uncle Qrow had to take care of me. But, he got better, eventually." Her sight shifted back to him, and a healthy smile returned to her face. "Now everything's great! Just like it will be for you. Just tough it out for a little bit more, Jaune. Everything will work out, I promise." She used her Semblance to bump shoulders with him, nearly knocking him off the couch, and fixed him with her biggest smile.

Jaune smiled back, a little shocked at the way the conversation had turned out.

Still, her little speech did wonders for reassuring him about reconciling with his father. Something that he hadn't thought about since he ran away from home.

"Thanks, Ruby. That... that helped a lot, actually." Jaune returned her smile, and decided to give the prospect of visiting home a little more thought.

"That's why I'm here, to help wherever I can." The silence ceased being awkward, and they were both happy to just enjoy each other's company for a moment.

When the moment had run it's course, Ruby spoke up with another question.

"So, where's your team?"

Right, he had pretty much forgotten about his life outside of the lounge for a minute.

"They're busy. With the dance next month, and the Vytal Tournament right after that, all of our training has ramped up a lot. I think right now... Pyrrha requested extra training with Goodwitch, and Ren and Nora are in the middle of Wilderness Survival with Professor Peach."

"Sounds rough." Ruby, still holding her cross-legged feet, leaned forward a bit in sympathy.

"You said it. Today is the only day I get any free time."

 _And even then, homework will find a way to get in the way._

The room fell silent again while Jaune mentally agonized over the coming week. But, suddenly, Ruby's soft voice broke him out of his trance.

"Well, I'm glad your here..." Her voice was only a little higher than a whisper, but it crossed Jaune's ears with ease, and it's tone stunned him. The way she said, it was like she had returned to her coy nature from earlier for no reason at all.

Then she bumped shoulders with him again, just like before, but very gently, letting her shoulder linger for a few more seconds than could be considered normal.

In all honesty, the whole interaction sent a shiver up his spine.

Too afraid of turning his head to face her fully, he took a quick peek out of the corner of his eye. She had her head lowered slightly, and he could only see the smallest, most genuine of smiles on her face.

 _Master of cute? Hell, this is just cheating!_

"Alright!" And, within a second, Ruby had disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the room in a fit of rose petals, causing that moment to come to an abrupt end. But she still captivated him with her sudden burst if energy.

"As your best friend and fellow team leader, I will make every Friday at 3pm the best time of your life, Jaune Arc! There will be games! There will be food! And there will be... uh, MORE GAMES!" With her fist in the air and her declaration ringing in his ears, Jaune couldn't help but smile harder than he had smiled in years.

"Okay, Ruby. You've got yourself a deal."

She nodded in triumph. And, with her superhero act coming to an end, she pointed to him and let out a final shout.

"Meet me at three!"


End file.
